As a result of boredom during the lockdown leading to me "overdosing" on making hotel bookings less than two weeks after returning from Kent I found myself setting off for Wales. This was something of a "pilgrimage" for me as I was booked in to stay at the Cliff Hotel at Gwbert which my parents had stayed at on several occasions.
Given that I have not yet seen any poppies this year I planned my route to take in two potential poppy locations near to Condicote in the Cotwolds. Although there were poppies there this time last year on this occasion I drew a blank.
Next stop was Monmouth Services on the A40 where there just happens to be a Greggs. This time I made sure that no sausages escaped (if this doesn't mean anything to you see my blog entitled A Second Tour of Kent and Sussex dated 16/10/2020) and was soon on my way down the Heads of the Valleys road and my first stop; Henrhyd Falls, one of several waterfalls in what is known as "Waterfall Country". It is a short but steep walk fron the car park down to the falls and I soon had my tripod set up and was getting some half-decent but certainly not stunning images. It is possible to walk behind this waterfall and as I was there I thought that I had better; from this point of view at least the comparative lack of water was probably a good thing!
My next planned stop was Cenarth Falls near to Newcastle Emlyn and my route took me across the Black Mountains. I stopped off a few times, once for my cheese and onion pasty lunch and again at a couple of roadside stops where the scenery was interesting and including one lovely little stream running down the hillside and under the road.
Finally arriving at Cenarth I took several images of the falls before setting of for my hotel at Gwbert; I think the exterior has changed quite a bit since my parents stopped there. I was booked in for dinner at 7:15, booking being essential due to Covid reducing the capacity of the what looked like fairly new restaurant. Luckily I managed to squeeze in a couple of pints of Doombar before my fish and chips and an excellent pint of Chieftain IPA with them. I wasn't able to resist the White Chocolate and Raspberry Blondie and it was, as a good friend and expert restaurant critic would say, "bloody superb". As it was still light, dry and warm I took a stroll over the golf course and took some images of the numerous stonechats that were in residence although by now the fading light meant that the quality was not good and they quickly pixelated when enlarged. There was also a half-decent sunset over the sea although this turned out to be the only evening with a nice sunset.
I was booked in for breakfast at 8:15 and after a nice "full Welsh", served from the buffet because of the Covid restrictions, I set off for Tenby, collecting my Times from the local Tesco. I was in fact going to be retracing my steps from my 2020 trip to Wales but the scenery makes it worthwhile. Arriving in Tenby I headed for The Croft where there is free parking...but unfortunately there were no spaces today so it was into the North Beach Car Park. 50p an hour seemed to be quite reasonable, 40p to have a piss seemed like taking the piss; there are plenty of places where you can do it for free so I declined the use of their facilities. I walked along the beach and took several images; the weather was reasonable and there were quite a few people about with boat trips seeming to be particularly popular.
I then set off for Bosherton which is the nearest village to St Govan's Chapel, I've been here twice before but one more visit wouldn't hurt. I was hoping to get to the Green Bridge of Wales but the man in the hut by the red flag said "16:30 on Friday" which wasn't a lot of use to me as I would be back in Banbury by then!
Final stop for the day was Dinas Island and this time, despite taking a couple of wrong turns, I arrived without making the almost fatal error of turning down the dead end with no turning spaces and about 6 inches to spare either side of the car (see my Tour of Wales blog dated 12/9/2020). I arrived at the beach and once again took one of the last parking spaces. I was initially undecided as to whether I should undertake the 4.5 mile walk around the island, although in reality there was probably never any doubt that I would. The views weren't quite as good as on my previous visit but there seemed to be more birds around and I did get a couple of decent images.
From here it was back to Gwbert, I was booked in for a 7:45 dinner, I think the England match on tv was influencing the restaurant demand but I've seen too many shit England performances to worry about missing the first half of this one. Another 3 pints and a Carreg Beef Burger, followed by some more White Chocolate and Raspberry Blondie concluded another good day.
After another 8:15 breakfast I set of for Mwnt where my parents ashes are spread, As I stepped out of the hotel it began to rain, and this was proper Welsh rain, the sort that can soak you in a matter of minutes! I called in at the local Tesco to pick up my Times and fill up with diesel and by the time I arrived at Mwnt, about a 10 minute drive, the rain had almost stopped. Despite this stroke of good fortune I donned my wet weather gear and set off towards the chapel which was unfortunately still locked due to Covid. I walked around the headland passing the area where my parents' ashes are spread but on this occasion I also climbed up to the top of the headland which was actually a bit precarious! Again I was able to capture some interesting bird shots but unfortunately there were no choughs to be seen on this occasion. I made use of the facilities, which were 40p cheaper than Tenby, and was walking back to the car when there was a bit of a commotion which I quickly established was because there was a dolphin in the bay. I had my Panasonic camera with me and effectively used it as a pair of binoculars (I'd recently invested in some decent Olympus binoculars but had managed to leave them at home). I was able to get a couple of shots of the distant dolphin and, although the quality was poor, I've included one in the newly renamed Wales Gallery (previously entitled South Wales). I think this trade off for not seeing a chough was fair enough, I expect I'll see a chough when I'm at the Lizard in Cornwall in September and if not I fully expect to return to Mwnt (and the Cliff Hotel).
From here I headed north to an area around Aberystwyth which my parents were particularly fond of, calling in at the Arch near Cymystwyth, driving through the village and out on the mountain road for a short while before turning round and heading back towards Gwbert via the quaintly named Ysbyty Ystwyth and Tregaron. On this road I came across the Hafod Estate. I'd not been here before but I know that my mother was fascinated by it and I think I may have read her copy of Peacocks In Paradise which is the story of the Hafod Estate. Although by now it was raining and I didn't have time for any exploring I have marked it down as a place to visit in the future. I did take a copy of a map of the area from a box by the information board, returning to the car to get the suggested £2 fee; I thought that I might be in trouble if I'd gone off without paying!
By now the rain was falling steadily so I returned to Gwbert, stopping a couple of times to photograph the plentiful Red Kites although unfortunately I didn't get a single decent image.
Dinner was at 6:45 today and as this was my last night I treated myself to a starter of Spicy Crab Cake followed by a Cajun Chicken Fillet Burger finished off with the obligatory White Chocolate and Raspberry Blondie (to be fair there were only 4 items on the desert menu which I think was restricted due to Covid) and, showing admirable restraint, I had only two pints.
I was booked in for a 7:00am breakfast as I needed to get back to Banbury and I arrived home at about 1:00pm following a Starbucks stop at Michaelwood Services on the M5. This had been a very enjoyable trip and I certainly intend to return to the Cliff Hotel and, who knows, I may even treat myself to a White Chocolate and Raspberry Blondie if they've got any left!